Comparing health care systems – why do we do it, how should we do it and how does the UK perform?
Nicholas Mays, Professor of Health Policy and Director, Policy Innovation Research Unit, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
Cross-country comparisons of health care systems are a commonplace of health policy commentary, especially among high income countries. They are undertaken for a variety of very different reasons and pose significant challenges in terms of methods and data. Given the intense political and public interest in the National Health Service, the UK is not immune from this activity and there is usually intense interest in how the NHS performs when ranked against the health care systems of other comparable countries.
Nicholas Mays has been Professor of Health Policy in the Department of Health Services Research and Policy at LSHTM since 2003. He also directs the National Institute for Health Research Policy Research Programme-funded Policy Innovation and Evaluation Research Unit based at the School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. The Unit’s main role is to evaluate innovative programmes and policies across health services, social care and public health in England.
He is currently a trustee and board member of the independent Centre for Ageing Better, a member of the UK What Works Network. The Centre aims to bring about evidence-informed change to improve later lives.